Everything in Life is a Test

The most important moments in your child’s life won’t be scheduled — so we have to prepare them before the test comes.

The phone rings. Then again. A number you half-recognize — one of the schools, probably. You’re in a meeting. You can’t pick up.

And somewhere across town, your child is standing in a moment you didn’t get to script. A ride is offered. A door closes a little. A grown-up says, “this’ll only take a second.”

If your stomach just dropped, this is for you. I see you. I’ve been you — phone buzzing in a silenced pocket, heart in two places at once.

Here’s what I’ve come to believe: everything is a test. Not the kind with a grade. The kind that hides inside ordinary moments and asks our kids one quiet question — do you know how to protect yourself, and do you trust that the adults around you will show up?

Our job is to make sure the answer is yes before the test ever comes.

So I teach one skill on purpose: the art of waiting for yes. The answer is no until you hear yes. Not silence. Not “probably.” Not a stranger’s say-so. Yes — from the person who is supposed to give it.

The answer is no until you hear yes.

Wait is a complete sentence

This isn’t only about strangers. It’s the coach who keeps them late. The friend’s parent who changes the plan. The grown-up who quietly counts on a child being too polite to say “let me check with my mom first.” So we teach them that checking in isn’t weakness — it’s required before every move.

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What working parents carry

My phone rings all day. I get robocalls from all three schools every week. And as much as nothing on this earth matters more to me than my children, I cannot always pick up in the moment.

So I gave my kids something steadier than my availability. They can count on me with their eyes closed: if you need me, I’m coming. Even if I can’t answer the phone.

The not-answering is never the no. The coming is the yes.

You will miss calls. You will be in the meeting, on the train, in the room you couldn’t walk out of. That doesn’t make you less of a parent. What your kids need isn’t a mother who answers every time. It’s a mother they never doubt is on her way.

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This is the work I’m pouring into Back to School Basics for Parents — the prep that gets parents ready to empower their kids before the test comes. It's dropping soon, and my Truly Yours community will be the first to know. Make sure you are subscribed to the newsletter for the weekly note. The community is free for now. And it’s, well, truly yours.

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